(no subject)
Title: Love Among the Aromatics
Paring: Steve/Danny
Genre: College AU featuring Nerdy!Steve
Rating: Pg-13
Summary: If you were oxygen, I would be an alkali metal so I could get in you and explode! aka: I guarantee your Organic Chemistry class was never this romantic.
Steve arrived to the lab early as usual, so he helped their TA get everything set up...as usual.
By the time the other students started rolling in he had almost the entire distillation apparatus set up at his bench. He was just attaching the fractionator when he heard his lab partner's voice call a greeting over to him.
He glanced over with a jolt that shook the apparatus. Steve fumbled to catch it in a way that was quick, and yet somehow still very noisy and entirely ungraceful.
After he righted the fragile tubes, the TA arrived in time to yell, “Be careful, Steve! That glassware costs $500 a set!”
This prompted a round of giggling from the girls at the next bench over.
Danny stepped up beside him with a wide smirk and commented, “Smooth.”
Steve stared intently at the bench and wished for the ground to swallow him up.
0000000000
Steve normally studied for this class with his buddy Charlie Fong, but Kono Kalakaua had run into him on the way in and 'persuaded' him to be late to study session that day by going into a long speech about how she'd been trying to quote: “hit that,” all semester long but never had the opportunity to be alone with him.
In the end, he was pretty sure he agreed to come back later just to get her to stop talking.
He looked up from his notes to the table across the room where Kono and Fong were currently sitting. Or rather he was sitting, and she was practically in his lap.
Steve shook his head. He'd known Kono practically all his life, he supposed he should've been used to her antics, but still there was something just hilarious about hearing a girl talk that way. Not to mention imagining the look on her cousin Chin Ho's face if he ever heard her talking that way.
He was laughing to himself when the loud group of jocks in the class arrived. Danny was among them, of course.
Steve tried to not be obvious about it, but eventually couldn't help but glance over. It was either the exact wrong moment or the exact right one because he looked just as Danny dropped his backpack to the floor and leaned over to take his books out, giving Steve a perfect view of his gorgeous, round ass.
He tore his eyes away in a panic, thanking God fervently that he was sitting behind a large table so no one could see that he now had a massive hard-on.
After taking a second to calm down he chanced a glance around the room to make sure no one had seen him looking.
When he looked up Kono was staring straight at him. Once she was sure he met her gaze, she waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Steve swore felt all the blood that wasn't currently creating problems in his nether regions, race to fill up his face.
0000000000
“Why haven't you said anything?” Kono demanded.
Ever since the incident in study session, she had been hounding him at every opportunity.
“I don't know what you're talking about, Kono,” Steve said as he pulled his notebook out of his bag.
“Like hell you don't! I saw, okay?”
“I don't know what you mean!” he insisted.
She sighed in exasperation, flopping down in the seat next to him. After about 2 excruciatingly awkward seconds of silence she said, “I'm proud, actually.”
“What?!” he demanded.
“You've got good taste,” she grinned, “He's kind of short, but still...one hot haole.”
Steve groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“He seems like a really nice guy too. I hear you guys talking during lab,” she went on, “You should make a move.”
“Are you crazy?” he said pushing his glasses back into place.
“What's the worst that could happen?” Kono asked, her voice echoing loudly around the auditorium, “He says 'no'-”
“Will you keep your voice down!” he hissed at her, and looked around to make sure they were still the only ones in the room.
“Steve,” she said gently, “Look I get that it's hard, but it's okay. Really. No one's going to judge you and if they do screw them! They don't matter.”
He sighed and pushed his glasses back up his nose, “Look I'm not saying that I am, but even if I were...he's not. I know that.”
“Pfft! You know crap!” she snorted, “Even if he's not it's college, everyone experiments.”
Before he could reply the doors swung open and a group of students filed in.
00000000000
Steve stared at the single drop in the collecting bulb disgustedly. A whole hour and half, and that's how close they were to being finished with this week's experiment.
He liked science and normally enjoyed the hands on work, but this time all he could think about was how nice it'd be to be somewhere else. Surfing at the north shore...or maybe hiking.
Yeah that'd be nice. A quiet trail where he could relax with no people around.
“Geez, this is freaking torture!” Danny's brash New Jersey accent echoed his earlier thought, and continued to as he stared out the window longingly, “And, of course, it's perfect weather for a ballgame.”
“Don't you play enough on the team?” Steve asked.
Danny looked at him, making Steve wish he could take back the question.
“Well sure,” he answered, “But you can never say no to a pickup game.”
“I never really played baseball.”
Danny rolled his eyes a muttered something about Hawaii.
00000000000
As much as Kono had been pain in his ass since the incident in study session, he couldn't escape that she was right about his lab partner.
Actually she was only partially right. Danny was more than just hot, he was breath taking. Especially when running around the quad with the sun reflecting off his blond hair, eyes that sparkled even at a distance, plus cutoff shorts and tight t-shirt that showed off the kind of muscles Steve had first wished for when he became a lanky 6 foot tall 14 year old, and, if he were honest, still wished for as a lanky 6 foot tall 19 year old.
As he watched Danny leap make a running leap toward the frisbee, Fong called his name as he came over to the bench where Steve was sitting.
And, because Steve had the world's best luck, Kono was with him.
It took her all of 30 seconds to follow Steve's eyeline and then shoot him a look that said 'you are so pathetic.'
He felt it too.
00000000000
“Were you dropped on your heads?!” Danny's voice cut through Steve's pounding head like a knife, “Seriously, what kind of idiot do you have to be to put freaking sodium down the sink?!”
Steve pressed the bloody paper towels to his head and groaned.
“We pour things down there all the time. I didn't know it would fucking explode!” One of his friends protested.
“It said it would in big letters on top of the book!” he yelled, “You assholes make our entire team look bad. Seriously, be more of a stereotype. I dare you!”
The edges swam around Steve's blurry view of the room, before Danny's face snapped sharply into focus as he yelled, “Will you sit down before you fall down!!!”
It took Steve half a second to do the latter. He landed on his backside, but was prevented from falling over entirely by a firm grip on his upper arms.
“Whoa,” Danny's voice said, “Hey now, hang on buddy.”
00000000000
Steve wasn't thrilled with the group they ended up with either.
As punishment for blowing up the lab, all the classes now had to do a final project that was worth 70% of their grade. He and Danny had been assigned to work with Denning and his girlfriend Lori. The two of them were basically the most perfect people on Earth, and would be the first to tell you so.
When assignments were announced they looked like they would rather shoot themselves than work with him.
Which was was why, as Steve walked into the study room at the student center he felt like he being lead to his own execution.
Denning and Lori looked up at him as he walked in.
“Hey guys um...Danny's practice ran long so he's going to meet us here in about an hour,” he explained.
Lori rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Figures.”
Steve sighed. This was going to be so much hell.
He put his things down and took a seat, “Maybe we can talk about possible topics and then decide when he gets here?”
“This project is basically our entire grade, I'm not waiting around for some dumb jock's input!” Denning said.
“What do you mean dumb jock?” Steve asked “We've both gotten A's on all the assignments so far.”
Lori laughed and said doubtfully, “Yeah...until he blew up the lab.”
Denning laughed along with her, “And I'm sure he got those A's all by himself. Had nothing to do with the fact that you let yourself get saddled with him.”
“Danny didn't blow up the lab,” Steve said, “It was some of the other guys on the baseball team, and he isn't dumb!”
The other boy smirked, “Oh sorry, didn't mean to insult your boyfriend!”
Denning was kidding. He knew he was. He was just being an asshole.
It still brought up the familiar sense of alarm hearing those words always did.
And Steve was fucking sick of it.
“Go to hell,” he said, tossing his bag over his shoulder and leaving room.
000000000000
Luckily for Steve, the combination of being a good student, and one whose parents didn't sue the university after he was injured in the lab explosion gave Steve the leverage he needed to get the professor to agree to let Danny and himself do the project on their own. They even got a 2 day extension to make up for not having an entire group to share the work.
After dropping their report in the professor's mailbox they walked outside together into the sun.
Danny sighed, “Thank God that's over and I never have to think about this hellish class again!”
Steve laughed, though his statement had brought into light that it also meant they probably wouldn't have anymore classes together.
“So um...” Danny hesitated, “...I guess that means this is the point where I bite the bullet and ask if you've also noticed this thing between us or if it was just wishful thinking on my part.”
Steve literally froze in his tracks. Surely Danny hadn't just said that? He had to be hearing things. Maybe it was a late side effect of the concussion?
“Shit, Steve, say something!”
“Um...” Steve stammered, “I...um...yes.”
Danny looked at him questioningly.
“I mean...I wasn't just you,” he finally managed to get out.
The two stood looking at each other for several excruciating seconds before Danny finally chuckled.
“Get over here you, goof,” he said as he grabbed the front of Steve's shirt and pulled him down.
Their foreheads collided painfully, and Danny broke away swearing.
Steve was stunned for a second, but he wasn't about to let the moment pass.
Danny was turning away rubbing his head when Steve snaked his arms around his waist, pulled him up on his tiptoes, and pressed a heated kiss against his mouth.
When they broke away Danny took a breath and blinked up at him. “Damn, McGarret. You certainly know how to make move once you finally make one!”
Normally, a comment like that would make Steve feel self-conscious but with Danny's teasing eyes looking into his own and the taste still on his lips, Steve simply laughed before going back in for more.
END
Paring: Steve/Danny
Genre: College AU featuring Nerdy!Steve
Rating: Pg-13
Summary: If you were oxygen, I would be an alkali metal so I could get in you and explode! aka: I guarantee your Organic Chemistry class was never this romantic.
Steve arrived to the lab early as usual, so he helped their TA get everything set up...as usual.
By the time the other students started rolling in he had almost the entire distillation apparatus set up at his bench. He was just attaching the fractionator when he heard his lab partner's voice call a greeting over to him.
He glanced over with a jolt that shook the apparatus. Steve fumbled to catch it in a way that was quick, and yet somehow still very noisy and entirely ungraceful.
After he righted the fragile tubes, the TA arrived in time to yell, “Be careful, Steve! That glassware costs $500 a set!”
This prompted a round of giggling from the girls at the next bench over.
Danny stepped up beside him with a wide smirk and commented, “Smooth.”
Steve stared intently at the bench and wished for the ground to swallow him up.
0000000000
Steve normally studied for this class with his buddy Charlie Fong, but Kono Kalakaua had run into him on the way in and 'persuaded' him to be late to study session that day by going into a long speech about how she'd been trying to quote: “hit that,” all semester long but never had the opportunity to be alone with him.
In the end, he was pretty sure he agreed to come back later just to get her to stop talking.
He looked up from his notes to the table across the room where Kono and Fong were currently sitting. Or rather he was sitting, and she was practically in his lap.
Steve shook his head. He'd known Kono practically all his life, he supposed he should've been used to her antics, but still there was something just hilarious about hearing a girl talk that way. Not to mention imagining the look on her cousin Chin Ho's face if he ever heard her talking that way.
He was laughing to himself when the loud group of jocks in the class arrived. Danny was among them, of course.
Steve tried to not be obvious about it, but eventually couldn't help but glance over. It was either the exact wrong moment or the exact right one because he looked just as Danny dropped his backpack to the floor and leaned over to take his books out, giving Steve a perfect view of his gorgeous, round ass.
He tore his eyes away in a panic, thanking God fervently that he was sitting behind a large table so no one could see that he now had a massive hard-on.
After taking a second to calm down he chanced a glance around the room to make sure no one had seen him looking.
When he looked up Kono was staring straight at him. Once she was sure he met her gaze, she waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Steve swore felt all the blood that wasn't currently creating problems in his nether regions, race to fill up his face.
0000000000
“Why haven't you said anything?” Kono demanded.
Ever since the incident in study session, she had been hounding him at every opportunity.
“I don't know what you're talking about, Kono,” Steve said as he pulled his notebook out of his bag.
“Like hell you don't! I saw, okay?”
“I don't know what you mean!” he insisted.
She sighed in exasperation, flopping down in the seat next to him. After about 2 excruciatingly awkward seconds of silence she said, “I'm proud, actually.”
“What?!” he demanded.
“You've got good taste,” she grinned, “He's kind of short, but still...one hot haole.”
Steve groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“He seems like a really nice guy too. I hear you guys talking during lab,” she went on, “You should make a move.”
“Are you crazy?” he said pushing his glasses back into place.
“What's the worst that could happen?” Kono asked, her voice echoing loudly around the auditorium, “He says 'no'-”
“Will you keep your voice down!” he hissed at her, and looked around to make sure they were still the only ones in the room.
“Steve,” she said gently, “Look I get that it's hard, but it's okay. Really. No one's going to judge you and if they do screw them! They don't matter.”
He sighed and pushed his glasses back up his nose, “Look I'm not saying that I am, but even if I were...he's not. I know that.”
“Pfft! You know crap!” she snorted, “Even if he's not it's college, everyone experiments.”
Before he could reply the doors swung open and a group of students filed in.
00000000000
Steve stared at the single drop in the collecting bulb disgustedly. A whole hour and half, and that's how close they were to being finished with this week's experiment.
He liked science and normally enjoyed the hands on work, but this time all he could think about was how nice it'd be to be somewhere else. Surfing at the north shore...or maybe hiking.
Yeah that'd be nice. A quiet trail where he could relax with no people around.
“Geez, this is freaking torture!” Danny's brash New Jersey accent echoed his earlier thought, and continued to as he stared out the window longingly, “And, of course, it's perfect weather for a ballgame.”
“Don't you play enough on the team?” Steve asked.
Danny looked at him, making Steve wish he could take back the question.
“Well sure,” he answered, “But you can never say no to a pickup game.”
“I never really played baseball.”
Danny rolled his eyes a muttered something about Hawaii.
00000000000
As much as Kono had been pain in his ass since the incident in study session, he couldn't escape that she was right about his lab partner.
Actually she was only partially right. Danny was more than just hot, he was breath taking. Especially when running around the quad with the sun reflecting off his blond hair, eyes that sparkled even at a distance, plus cutoff shorts and tight t-shirt that showed off the kind of muscles Steve had first wished for when he became a lanky 6 foot tall 14 year old, and, if he were honest, still wished for as a lanky 6 foot tall 19 year old.
As he watched Danny leap make a running leap toward the frisbee, Fong called his name as he came over to the bench where Steve was sitting.
And, because Steve had the world's best luck, Kono was with him.
It took her all of 30 seconds to follow Steve's eyeline and then shoot him a look that said 'you are so pathetic.'
He felt it too.
00000000000
“Were you dropped on your heads?!” Danny's voice cut through Steve's pounding head like a knife, “Seriously, what kind of idiot do you have to be to put freaking sodium down the sink?!”
Steve pressed the bloody paper towels to his head and groaned.
“We pour things down there all the time. I didn't know it would fucking explode!” One of his friends protested.
“It said it would in big letters on top of the book!” he yelled, “You assholes make our entire team look bad. Seriously, be more of a stereotype. I dare you!”
The edges swam around Steve's blurry view of the room, before Danny's face snapped sharply into focus as he yelled, “Will you sit down before you fall down!!!”
It took Steve half a second to do the latter. He landed on his backside, but was prevented from falling over entirely by a firm grip on his upper arms.
“Whoa,” Danny's voice said, “Hey now, hang on buddy.”
00000000000
Steve wasn't thrilled with the group they ended up with either.
As punishment for blowing up the lab, all the classes now had to do a final project that was worth 70% of their grade. He and Danny had been assigned to work with Denning and his girlfriend Lori. The two of them were basically the most perfect people on Earth, and would be the first to tell you so.
When assignments were announced they looked like they would rather shoot themselves than work with him.
Which was was why, as Steve walked into the study room at the student center he felt like he being lead to his own execution.
Denning and Lori looked up at him as he walked in.
“Hey guys um...Danny's practice ran long so he's going to meet us here in about an hour,” he explained.
Lori rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Figures.”
Steve sighed. This was going to be so much hell.
He put his things down and took a seat, “Maybe we can talk about possible topics and then decide when he gets here?”
“This project is basically our entire grade, I'm not waiting around for some dumb jock's input!” Denning said.
“What do you mean dumb jock?” Steve asked “We've both gotten A's on all the assignments so far.”
Lori laughed and said doubtfully, “Yeah...until he blew up the lab.”
Denning laughed along with her, “And I'm sure he got those A's all by himself. Had nothing to do with the fact that you let yourself get saddled with him.”
“Danny didn't blow up the lab,” Steve said, “It was some of the other guys on the baseball team, and he isn't dumb!”
The other boy smirked, “Oh sorry, didn't mean to insult your boyfriend!”
Denning was kidding. He knew he was. He was just being an asshole.
It still brought up the familiar sense of alarm hearing those words always did.
And Steve was fucking sick of it.
“Go to hell,” he said, tossing his bag over his shoulder and leaving room.
000000000000
Luckily for Steve, the combination of being a good student, and one whose parents didn't sue the university after he was injured in the lab explosion gave Steve the leverage he needed to get the professor to agree to let Danny and himself do the project on their own. They even got a 2 day extension to make up for not having an entire group to share the work.
After dropping their report in the professor's mailbox they walked outside together into the sun.
Danny sighed, “Thank God that's over and I never have to think about this hellish class again!”
Steve laughed, though his statement had brought into light that it also meant they probably wouldn't have anymore classes together.
“So um...” Danny hesitated, “...I guess that means this is the point where I bite the bullet and ask if you've also noticed this thing between us or if it was just wishful thinking on my part.”
Steve literally froze in his tracks. Surely Danny hadn't just said that? He had to be hearing things. Maybe it was a late side effect of the concussion?
“Shit, Steve, say something!”
“Um...” Steve stammered, “I...um...yes.”
Danny looked at him questioningly.
“I mean...I wasn't just you,” he finally managed to get out.
The two stood looking at each other for several excruciating seconds before Danny finally chuckled.
“Get over here you, goof,” he said as he grabbed the front of Steve's shirt and pulled him down.
Their foreheads collided painfully, and Danny broke away swearing.
Steve was stunned for a second, but he wasn't about to let the moment pass.
Danny was turning away rubbing his head when Steve snaked his arms around his waist, pulled him up on his tiptoes, and pressed a heated kiss against his mouth.
When they broke away Danny took a breath and blinked up at him. “Damn, McGarret. You certainly know how to make move once you finally make one!”
Normally, a comment like that would make Steve feel self-conscious but with Danny's teasing eyes looking into his own and the taste still on his lips, Steve simply laughed before going back in for more.
END